Bangladesh is bestowed with the bounties of nature. Its captivating natural beauty has provoked many travellers from far and near through ages to undertake a journey to this land of the Bengalis. One such traveller aptly observed, "Bengala has a hundred gates open for entrance, but not one for departure."

Bangladesh is heir to a rich cultural legacy. In more than two thousand years of its chequered history, many illustrious dynasties of kings and sultans have ruled and gone, but not without leaving their mark in the form of magnificent cities and monuments and the desolate ruins which can still be seen in many places throughout the country.

Above all, the simple and friendly people of Bangladesh - along with its tribes isolated from modern society by their own distinct culture and way of life - make Bangladesh a unique attraction for tourists.

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC), the national tourism organization of the country, was established in 1973 at the personal initiative of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It is a semi-autonomous organization and has been placed under the Ministry of Civil Aviation & Tourism. It has the dual responsibility of developing tourist facilities and promoting tourism products and creating a favorable image of the country. Since its inception, the corporation has renovated the existing tourist facilities as well as created new ones at important tourist spots.

The tourist facilities created so far include hotels, motels, cottages, youth hostels, restaurants, duty free shops, land and water transports at different spots within the country. The BPC accommodation units now have a total capacity of about 800 beds. The corporation also offers city sight-seeing tours, package tours and excursion trips. City sight-seeing package tours for transit passengers and river cruise packages are also organized for guests in Dhaka. Recently, the BPC commissioned a river cruise vessel M. L. Shalook to organize cruises on a regular basis. The only National Hotel & Tourism Training Institution of the country is run by the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation in Dhaka. It was established under UNDP/ILO assistance, and has so far imparted training to 10 thousand trainees in different sectors of the tourism industry. BPC is one of the few public sector corporations earning a net profit since 1983-84 and expanding tourist facilities from its limited earnings.

Planned marketing campaign plays a vital role in the promotion of intangible tourism products. Keeping this in mind, due importance has been given to the publication of promotional booklets, posters, brochures, maps and so forth on places of tourist attraction and to the distribution of these through Bangladesh Missions, overseas Biman Bangladesh Airlines offices and tourists at home and abroad. Besides, advertisements are being released to local and foreign newspapers, travel magazines, radio and television at regular intervals. Familiarization tours of travel writers and tour operators are also being organized and press releases issued to the local and foreign press.

As part of its marketing program, BPC has made some 16mm documentary and video films. These are displayed through the BPC missions and Biman offices abroad. BPC regularly participates in major tourist exhibitions such as ITB in Berlin, WTM in London, TTF in Calcutta and others, and at home, "Tourism Month" is organized annually to motivate local people to travel extensively within the country.

For rapid development of the tourism sector, the government announced a National Tourism Policy in 1992 and a National Tourism Council has been formed with the Prime Minister as its Chairperson. The policy acts as a guideline for the overall development of the tourism industry in the country. With the compliance of the guidelines set out in the policy, it is expected that a congenial atmosphere for investment in tourism will be created so that the public and private sectors could play their respective roles for its promotion, earning of foreign exchange and creation of job opportunities.

A strategic Master Plan has also been formulated by the World Tourism Organization with the assistance of UNDP for integrated development of tourism in the country. Steps have been taken to develop tourism infrastructure in phases as per the recommendations of the Master Plan which include creation of tourist facilities at various places. Besides these, a few other proposals have been sent to the government for inclusion in the next Annual Development Program. With the implementation of these projects, it is expected that the whole country will come under a tourism network. It is common knowledge that tourism cannot grow in isolation as it is a multi-sector industry. So concerted efforts are needed from both the public and private sectors for full development and utilization of the potentials of the industry.